1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to fasteners. In particular, the present invention relates to a fastener for holding together two halves of a separable housing.
2. Background Information
Several types of fasteners are known in the art for holding together two halves of a separable housing. These fasteners are useful for quickly assembling and disassembling the halves of the housing, such as a utility knife having replaceable blades. Assembly of the housing, using the fasteners, may be accomplished with or without an additional tool to tighten or loosen the fastener.
Typically, toolless fasteners include a screw or a bolt having a threaded portion and a nut secured to the threaded portion on the exterior of the housing to hold the halves together. Assembly of the housing may be accomplished by tightening the nut onto the threaded portion by hand, using the thumb and fingers. A tool, such as a wrench may also be used to rotate the nut onto or off of the threaded screw or bolt. At least one disadvantage of the nut-type fastener is that the nut protrudes from the surface of the housing, potentially interfering with the use of the housing. For example, the housing may be the shell of a hand tool, such as a utility knife, wherein the protruding nut interferes with the hand grip.
Another type of fastener for assembling a separable housing requires the use of a separate tool in order to secure or loosen the halves of the housing. For example, the fastener may have a screw-type assembly having a threaded portion, adapted to engage the housing and requiring a separate tool to rotate the fastener within the housing. The separate tool may be a screwdriver or coin that fits into a slot in the head of the fastener. Requiring a separate tool to open and close a housing, such as for replacing a utility knife blade, is a disadvantage for ease and speed of changing the blades.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fastener that securely fastens together halves of a separable housing, such as a utility knife, and wherein the fastener provides for toolless assembly and disassembly of the housing without interfering with the use of the housing.